Before the Anti-Japanese War, Chinese children played with foreign toys, and the problems behind them were thought-provoking, and domestic products almost rose. In that turbulent era, foreign toys sprung up in China. Delicate and flexible dolls made in Germany, affordable realistic car models made in the United States, Momotaro dolls all the rage in Japan...... These new and interesting foreign toys are very popular among Chinese children. With their low prices, fine workmanship and rich playability, they quickly pushed traditional Chinese toys such as clay sculptures, paper and wood carvings out of the market. Under this foreign storm surge, China's toy industry has suffered a huge blow. How did the once-sluggish domestic toy industry re-emerge with the support of national capital and the hard work of entrepreneurs? And why did it fail to completely overtake the foreign toy giants in the end and fall into a trough again? What profound historical lessons and regrets are hidden behind them, which are worth reflecting on...
Reasons why foreign toys are booming in China
In the middle of the 19th century, the Western powers forced China to open up to the outside world through unequal treaties that "relied on foreign countries for self-respect". With the increase in treaty ports, foreign goods poured into Chinese mainland like a frenzy. At that time, China's manufacturing industry, which was backward in the process of industrialization, could not withstand the impact from overseas.
Naturally, the toy industry will not escape the fate of being impacted. As early as 1902, the amount of toys imported by China was as high as 200,000 yuan. As a world toy manufacturing powerhouse, Germany has a very cost-effective product with advanced mold technology and large-scale mechanized production. For example, the precision joint doll that will not be damaged even if the child pulls it is only sold for a few yuan. In addition, the German factory is good at designing educational educational toys, which are deeply favored by Chinese parents and children.
The toy manufacturing industry in the United States, Japan and other countries is also gradually rising. Celluloid (plastic) products in the United States are highly regarded for their lightweight, environmentally friendly and non-toxic products. Japan's industry developed rapidly after World War I, and at the end of the 20s, its toys such as imitation weapons, guns, and cars occupied half of the Chinese market.
In the face of the impact from abroad, China's local traditional handicraft toys have been defeated. The lack of advanced technology and scientific design concepts, coupled with the disadvantages of single raw materials, rough workmanship, and poor colors, make them lag far behind foreign toys in terms of novelty and practicality. Some intellectuals pointed out at the time: "Since the life of Da Fuzhi, I don't know how many thousands of years have passed, but it is still dough and has not lost its original face." In the new era, not changing is the original sin. ＂
By 1931, the total value of China's annual imports of toys was as high as 1522470 yuan, of which Japanese goods accounted for a large proportion. That's more than seven times what it was in 1902. The traditional toy manufacturing industry is on the verge of a desperate situation, and the capital structure inside and outside China's toy market has formed a sharp contrast.
The specific manifestation of the decline of domestic toys
Although foreign toys have swept the Chinese market with their advanced technology and exquisite design, the traditional local toy-making skills have a long history and have been inherited among the people. However, the lack of scientific ideas and modernization has made these millennia-old handicrafts gradually lose their market competitiveness in the new era.
At that time, people in the education sector did a systematic investigation and analysis on the current situation of domestic toys. In 1923, the Department of Education released the "Report Form on the Examination Form of Children's Toys", which showed that the main raw materials of traditional Chinese toys were natural materials such as clay, bamboo, cloth and feathers. Although they have national characteristics, toys made of these materials are neither aesthetically pleasing nor can they withstand children's long-term play. What's more, some toys use toxic pigments, which are hidden dangers to children's health.
At the same time, the traditional toys are simple and outdated, and it is difficult to arouse children's interest. Until the 20s of the 20th century, the shelves of Chinese department stores were still full of old-fashioned puppets, clay figures and windmills, which were far from being comparable to realistic and fun electric toys. A critic of the time jokingly said: "How did our clay figurine know that it was actually a clay figurine?" It thinks it's a living person! ＂
In terms of modeling design, traditional craftsmen often do not understand the psychology of children, and they rarely have knowledge of children's development and education. Some intellectuals have criticized: "The reason why Chinese toys lack aesthetic sense and educational significance is precisely because of the low cultural level of the makers." As a result, there are extremely incongruous problems such as exaggerated clay sculptures and expressionless faces of puppets, which are far from foreign products that focus on child psychology and physiology.
The quality of toys in contemporary newspapers and magazines also reflects the backwardness of domestic products. In 1927, the "Declaration" published a news of the "wooden animal skin clay figurines" toy, mentioning that the puppets sold by a "Dachuang Toy Store" in Shanghai were fragile and difficult to play, and the clay figurines were rough in workmanship and dull in color. And "a set of toys in Germany, no matter how novel and wonderful, the shape is wonderful". In addition, according to the "Weekly Review" in 1928, "the best domestic humanoid is worth only 2 coins of silver, and German goods are more than 100 times more expensive."
The lack of innovation in products is a serious problem. In February 1936, the "Children's Pictorial" published a suggestion for the improvement of toys: "In the past, toys were only for ornamentation, but now we should pay attention to their playability, not only sports, but also intellectually interesting." It can be seen that in addition to the rough appearance of traditional toys and lack of attractiveness, the gameplay cannot meet the needs of modern children, and is far behind the times.
Advice from people of insight to revitalize domestic products
In the face of the decline of the domestic toy industry, some visionary intellectuals and celebrities have offered suggestions to reverse this decline. They approached from multiple angles and pointed the way for the revival of the toy industry.
The first is to learn from the level of management philosophy to learn foreign advanced experience. In 1929, Ding Xilun, who had served as a primary school principal, pointed out in the article "Discussion on the Improvement of Chinese Toys" that the reason why foreign toys are so popular is that the manufacturers have considerable cultural upbringing and educational concepts. He suggested that China should introduce highly educated talents, no longer regard toys as "micro skills", but improve the status of toys in children's education.
In line with this, in 1928, the "Children's Pictorial" published opinions on the improvement of toys, which called for toy design to meet the needs of modern children's growth, no longer just ornamental ornamentation, but to be intellectually interesting, so that children can be imperceptibly educated in entertainment.
Jurist Xu Yasheng put forward his views from the perspective of industry collaboration. He called for a national toy expo to be held to allow manufacturers from all over the world to exchange experience and achieve optimal allocation of resources and dislocation development. In addition, experts and professors can also be organized to tour all parts of the country to put forward guiding opinions on the development of the toy industry.
As a famous contemporary educator, Wang Guoyuan systematically expounded the importance of toys in children's enlightenment education in the book "Toy Education". He believes that schools, especially normal colleges, should set up toy teaching related courses, starting from teachers to cultivate toy professionals. In the long run, it is even possible to consider setting up a special toy academy to reserve compound human resources for the industry.
In parallel with the theoretical discussions suggested by scholars, some capitalists and entrepreneurs have made attempts at the practical level. For example, in 1928, Jiang Junyan and others founded the Greater China Celluloid Company in Shanghai, specializing in the production of new plastic toys. After 4 years of development, the company has more than 400 workers, 550 horsepower machine power, and an annual output of up to 1 million pieces, and its products are also exported to India and Nanyang countries.
The company's success is largely due to process leadership. The so-called "celluloid" was the most advanced plastic at that time, which was a synthetic material made by turning the fibrous into nitrocellulose through a series of complex chemical reactions. The toys produced with celluloid are light and environmentally friendly, with bright and realistic colors, and are very competitive in the market.
It can be said that whether it is a scholar in the theoretical field or a pioneer in the industrial field, they have pointed out the prospects for the rise and fall of the domestic toy industry in different ways, and reflected the ambition of national self-improvement. However, due to many complex historical reasons, these efforts have not been able to completely turn things around. But their courage and patriotism are still worth remembering for future generations.
A unique strategy for the entry of national capital
Faced with the onslaught of foreign toy brands, China's local toy industry has fallen into an unprecedented crisis. However, national capital did not give up, on the contrary, they used a series of unique strategies to try to reverse the passive situation through their own efforts.
In 1929, a group of national entrepreneurs established the China Toy Industry Association in Shanghai. This organization aims to unite the national toy industry and boost the sales of domestic toys through joint promotions and other means. For example, the association has called on member companies to jointly place advertisements to expand the popularity of domestic toys with the help of media publicity.
In addition to advertising, the trade association has also launched a series of more creative promotional activities. In 1931, they organized a large-scale marketing campaign called "Domestic Toy Week". During the week, toy manufacturers from all over the country will gather in Shanghai to bring their products to display in the Nanshi Children's Park. It not only fully shows the style of domestic toys, but also provides an opportunity for children to experience and interact with each other.
This unique approach has paid off, with media reports saying that the park is bustling with visitors every day during the event. "During the holidays, it is especially crowded, children laugh and the toy market is opened. ＂
In addition to joint marketing, national capitalists are also actively exploring new marketing channels. In 1935, leaders of a number of toy trade associations founded a special toy magazine "Children's World" to spread toy knowledge and cultivate children's love for domestic toys. The publication was filled with slogans and editorials such as "Little owners should take care of domestic products".
Not only that, but the magazine itself has become a new channel for selling toys. It advertises domestic toys on the back cover of each issue of the magazine, and provides a mail-order service. Therefore, as long as parents pay a certain amount in advance, they can buy their favorite domestic toys through mail order, which is very convenient.
Another unique marketing method that has made domestic toys popular is to invite celebrities and cultural celebrities to endorse products. In 1935, the Toy Guild launched the activity of "Patriotic Celebrities Inscribe Toy Advertisements". The well-known educator Tao Xingzhi, political commentator Hu Shi and others have written a few words on the advertising posters of domestic toys to express their best wishes for the toy industry.
For example, Tao Xingzhi wrote inspiring words such as "toys that everyone can operate, that is, the origin of craftsmanship". With the help of these celebrity effects, national toy companies have successfully created an atmosphere of "buying domestic products is patriotic", thus winning the support of the masses.
On the whole, in the face of strong foreign competition, the national capitalists have adopted a series of effective innovative marketing strategies, and concentrated the strength of the national toy industry to compete together. This spirit of national integrity and unity has become a powerful boost for China's toy industry to fight back against foreign investment.
Analysis of the reasons why domestic toys failed to win completely
Although the national capitalists used various unique strategies to ignite a glimmer of life for the domestic toy industry, they still failed to completely reverse the passive situation in the end, but instead worsened the situation after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War and fell into a more desperate situation. The main reasons for this are as follows:
First of all, due to the backward industrial base at that time, China's toy industry has not been able to compete with foreign advanced technology in terms of production technology. Foreign toys use automated precision assembly line operations, and the products are finely made and low cost. However, almost all domestic toy companies are handicraft workshop-style family workshops, and the production efficiency and production capacity are seriously insufficient.
The drawbacks of this mode of production have been openly criticized in some newspaper editorials. For example, the article published in the "Declaration" on October 14, 1935 said, "There is no fundamental development of the toy industry in the mainland... It's not a factory, it's just a family workshop." After the Japanese invasion of China, this scattered small workshop production form made domestic toys lack unified industry standards and scale advantages.
Secondly, although domestic toys are quite intelligent in marketing strategies, they are still difficult to compete with the ability of foreign capital to control the domestic market by controlling raw materials and channel monopolies. Although media advertising, park fairs and other activities have temporarily stimulated a sales boom for a while, in the long run, it is still unable to shake the dominant position of foreign-funded products in the channel.
At the time, some commentators stressed that "China's toy industry must not be able to cheer up, because the trade routes and traffic have not yet been completely liberated." The implication is to criticize foreign toys for stifling domestic products through manipulation of logistics and shipping.
In addition, the toy industry itself is not a strategic pillar industry, and compared with heavy industry and other industries related to the future and destiny of the nation, it has received far less government policy support and private investment attention. Most companies are small in scale and difficult to obtain financial support, so they have been at a disadvantage in terms of product design and material selection.
Fourth, the development process of domestic toys has also been disturbed by some external shocks. For example, the "128 Incident" in 1932 and the Lugou Bridge Incident in 1937 both plunged the domestic situation into turmoil and destroyed the order of production. Tracing back to the source, this is again due to the division of domestic warlords and the power vacuum. In such a turbulent environment, it is naturally difficult for the toy industry to continue to develop healthily.
In the end, even though domestic toys had made some progress before the Anti-Japanese War, the continuation of the war and the ravages of the White Terror eventually caused the industry to suffer a completely devastating blow. On the one hand, many skilled craftsmen who passed on their skills were killed or injured in the war; On the other hand, the entire industry is in the early stages of its rise, and its foundations are not solid, and it is even more difficult to survive the scourge of war.
Some people may say that such an analysis seems too pessimistic, but in fact, the difficult development process of the toy industry does reflect the high contradictions and inherent defects of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society at that time, which is a microcosm worthy of our deep thought.